Reserve-fuel-supply tank



May 6, 1924. 1,493,422

J. C. BARNHART RESERVE FUEL SUPPLY TANK I Filed April 17, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 gig 3 27 g 2a y i 4 -Iig 6 5 SGAL.'

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May 6, 192.4. 1,493,422'

J. c. BARNHART RESERVE FUEL SUPPLY TANK Filed April 174 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ma VIII/[Illu v lll/L nulli-1111111111 'lllllllll 0 l I l III-VIIII WDM/Maz Patented May 6, 19124. 'l

UNITEosTATEs l" I i 1,493,422 PATENT oFFlecE,.

JOSEPH o, BABNHART, or MARION, INDIANA.,

REsERvE-rUEL-SUPPLY TANK.

To all whom t may concern.

Be it known that I, JOSEPH CQBARN- lHART, a citizen of the United States, vre'- sidino' at Marion, in the county of Grant and tate of Indiana, have invented .certain new and useful Improvements in Reserve- Fuel-Supply Tanksof which thefollowing is a specication. v y

The presentinvention relates to an auX- iliary fuel supply tank which is adapted to be associated `with the main fuel supply tank of a motor vehicle, for the purpose of carry; ing an emergency suppl of fuel which can be used in the event t`e main supply of fuel becomes exhausted. f Thereserve fuel supply tank will hold a sufficient amount of fuel to drive the motor vehicle several miles, The driver of the vehicle thus always has an emergency supply of fuel held in reserve and suflicient in quantity: to carry him to a fuel supply station if he unexpectedly discovers that his main supply of fuel has become exhausted when he isat a distance from home or from a fuel supply station. 1 y. I I y Among the objects of the invention are to provide a reserve fuel supply tank which embodies `novel features' of construction, whereby it is associated with the main fuel supply tank in such a lmanner. that there will be little or no danger `of the driver of the vehicle failing or forgetting to refill the energy reserve fuel supplyk tank after he has had occasion to use the same. A4,The invention also contemplates the provision of an emergency fuel supply tank of this character which provides for easilyand quickly transferring the emergency supply of fuel from the reserve fuel tank into the 'main fuel tank, and which may also be graduated and formed so that it can be utilized as a` measuring stick or gauge for determining the quantity of fuel inthe main tank.

lVith the above and other objects in view, the invention consists in certain combina tions and associations of the parts as will be more fully described as the description proceeds, the'novel features thereof being pointed out in the appended' claims.

For a full understanding of the invention reference is to be had to the following description and accompanying-"drawings, in which; v Y

' Figure l is a side elevation of a reserve fuel, supply tank, which is constructed in accor-dance` with the invention, the said' re,-

`tails of construction. f i .Flgure 2 1s .an enlarged ysectional, view vApplication `led April 17, 1922. SerialN'o. 553,327.

serve fuelsupply, tank` being'shown` lpoysitioned within the mainlfuel supply tank,

of which a fragmentary portion is shown, and portions being broken away and shown in section to illustrate more clearly 4thedef through the-lower end of the reserve fuel lsupply tank, illustrating in ,detail the valve controlled outlet. y Y Figure 3 is a top plan view of the reserve fuel supply tank. Figure 4 is a horizontal sectional View on the line 5 5 ofFigure l. 4

Figure 5 is an enlarged sectional lview on the line 6-6 of Figure y2. 5

Figure 6 is a view-similar. to Figure l, showing a slightly modified form of the Vinvention, in which thevalve controlled outlet opening at the bottomgof the reserve fuel supply tank is omitted. v

Corresponding and like parts are referred to inthe following description and indi` the drawings, which illustrate one of many possible embodiments of the-invention, the

referencenumeralv 1 designatesthe body portion of the reserve fuelzsupply tank, and this is normally positioned within the interior of the main fuel supply tank. Av of the motor vehicleupon whichithe equipment is mounted. vThereserve-tank l is of van elongated form and is of such a size and shape transversely that*J it can be readily passed through the filling'openin'g 2 of the' l main tank. LThis filling opening is surrounded in the usualmanner byan internally threaded fitting` 3,;which isV adapted to be engaged by an externally threaded cap 4, said cap being removed when it is desired to fill thevmain supply tank, and being thereafter replaced to prevent thecontentsofthe main supply tankfrom splashing out or being spilled from the opening.. Y V i Inthe present instance the cap 4 is of fa specialv formation, being; provided with a depending lip 5 which has athreaded engagement, as 'vindicated at 6,with theV upper endoffthe reserve fuel supply tank 1. i The reserve tank 1 isthus vrigidly applied-to the cap 4 'and carried thereby,beinglifted out of the main supply Atank A when the cap is unscrew'ed and' removed from position, and being jinserthe-d1 within the main -supply tank when the 'cap is applied to the filling opening and screwed upon the fitting 3. The top of the cap may, as indicated by Figure 3, be provided with va transversely extending web 7 which projects upwardly and provides a Alinger piece, thereby enabling a firm grip to be obtained upon the cap for the purpose of screwing the same into position or unscrewing it therefrom. The cap has one airinlet opening `8 which communicates with the interior of the reserve fuel supply tank .1, and a second airinlet opening 9 which is arranged in an angular position and opens into the main supply tank A. These are the usual air vinlet openings, which provide for the necessary ingress `of air into .the respective tanks when the liquid 'contents thereof are withdrawn from .the tanks.

It is contemplated vthat the reserve fuel supply tank may be used inthe capacit-y of a gauge or 'measuring stick, Afor the purpose of determining the quantity yof liquid fuel which is in the main supply tank A. For this purpose the exterior of the reserve tank 1 is shown as provided with a series of graduations 10, which are arranged lat the proper intervals of space and associated with proper legends to indicate the quantity of gasoline in the tank. 1n this connection it is perhaps unnecessary to vexplain that the reserve fuel supply tank lis used in the same manner as the ordinary measuring stick. When the small elongated tank 1 is withdrawn from the main tank A, the portion thereof which was submerged in the liquid fuel within'the main tank will be moistened with the fuel, and the relation between the moistened exterior portion of the reserve fuel tank and the graduations 10 on the tank will indicate the quantity of liquid fuel within the main tank. It may also be noted that a certain Zone of the elongated reserve fuel supply tank has the exterior thereof roughened or knurled, as indicated at 11, so that a firm grip can be obtained upon vthis reserve fuel supply tank when applying it to the cap y4 or'disengaging it therefrom.

The bottom of the reserve fuel supply tank 1 is provided with an opening within which the upper end of a hollow casing is fitted, said casing being formed of an upper eomplemental section 12a,'and alower complemented section 12b. These coniplemental casing .sections are iianged at their meeting edges, as indicated lat 12, and a transverse partition 13 extends transversely across the interior of the hollow ca-sing, the periphery of the partition being received between the flanges 12. Fastening members such as the rivets 14, extend through the flanges 126, the partition 13, and the bottom ofthe reserve supply tank 1, thereby performing the triple function of fastening the hollow casing to the tank, securing the twok sections of the hollow casing together, and 'holding the transverse partition in opposition. .Both of the sections :ofthe hollow casing are provided with comparatively large openl ings 15, vand the partition 13 is formed with an opening surrounded with a valve seat 16. A downwardly opening ball valve 17 normally engages the valve seat, being yieldably urged into a closed position by a coil .spring Extending longitudinally 'through the re-y serve fuel supply tank'l is a plunger 20, the upper 'end of .the plunger extending slidably through an opening in the cap 4, while the lower end lthereof extends through a neck 21, provided at the top of the casing section 12a. The Vlower extremity of the plunger terminates .slightly above the normal or seated position of the ball valve 17, so that when the plunger is pushed downwardly the ball valve will be moved away from its seat. An

intermediate portion of the plunger v2() ex-` tends loosely through a guide ring 22, which is carried by a frame or cage member 23 pendant from the cap 4. The upper end of a coil spring 24 which surrounds the plunger 2O bears against the guide rin-g 22, while the lower end of the coil spring engages a set collar 25 which is fixedly mounted upon the plunger. This spring is normally un `der compression and is stronger than the before mentioned valve spring 18, so that when the plunger is released the action of this spring will'force the plunger down wardly and'cause the ball valve 17 to be moved against the action of the spring 18 into an open position. The upper end of the plu-nger 2O is provided with a laterally projecting finger piece or arm 26 which is adapted to engage a cam 27 formed in connection with the top of the cap 4. When this arm 26 is rotated and brought into engagement with a notched seat 28 at the raised portion of the cam, the plunger is moved upwardly against the action of the spring 24 and heldin an inoperative-position. The ball'valve 17 is then retained in a closed position by the action of the spring 18. Under these conditions the reserve supply of fuel which is held in the tank 1 is maintained separate from the fuel yin lthe main supply tank A. However, if the main supply of fuel becomes unexpectedly eX- hausted when the driver of the vehicle is away from home or at a distance from a fuel supply station, it is merely necessary to grasp the arm or finger piece 26 at the upper end of the plunger 20 and rotate the arm toward the lower end of the cam 27. This permits the plunger to be moved downwardly by the action of the spring 24 with the result that the lower end of the plunger forces the ball valve 17 downwardly against the action of the spring 18 and unseats-the valve. The reserve supply of fuel can then pass through the opening in the bottom of the reserve tank l into themain tank A, from whence it is fed to the engine in the usual manner, and the reserve supply of fuel is sufiicient to drive the vehicle for several miles, so that the driver can obtain a fresh supply of fuel before the fuel in his two tanks becomes completely exhausted. As has been previously mentioned, the reserve fuel supply tank l is carriedby the cap 4 for the filling opening of the main tank,

' so that there is little probability of the driver forgetting to refill the reserve tank when the main supply tank is filled.

A slight modification is shown by Figure 6 in which the outlet valve and the valve controlling means are omitted from the reserve fuel supply tank. In all other respects ,the construction and manner of operation of the fuel supply tank shown by Figure 6 is identical with that previously described. The same reference numerals have accordingly been applied to this figure and it is not believed that any further description is necessary. The construction can be somewhat simplied and the cost of producing the device decreased by leaving o the valve mechanism, and when it becomes necessary to transfer the reserve supply of fuel into the main tank the reserve tank is withdrawn from the main tank, unscrewed from the cap, and the fuel therein poured into the main tank.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent is,

1. The combination with a main fuel supply tank with its filling opening and cap, of a reserve fuel supply tank carried by the cap and normally projecting into the main tank, said reserve tank being graduated upon its exterior so that it can be used as a gauge stick to determine the quantity of fuel in the main tank.

2. The combination with a main fuel supply tank with its filling opening and cap, of an elongated reserve fuel supply tank carried by the cap and insertable through the filling opening of the main tank, so as to normally project into the contents of the main tank, the exterior of the reserve tank being graduated so that it can be used as a gauge stick to determine the quantity of fuel in the main tank.

3. The combination with a main fuel supply tank with its filling opening and cap, of a reserve fuel supply tank carried by the cap and having a detachable connection therewith, said reserve fuel supply tank being insertable through the filling opening of the main tank, and the cap vbeing provided with separate air inlet ports leading to the main tank and reserve tank respectively.

4. The combination with a main fuel supply tank, havin a filling opening, a removable cap there or having an interlocking connection, of a reserve fuel supply tank closed at its upper portion and attached to the cap for bodily insertion and removal through the filling opening of the main tank, a valve controlled outlet for the re-4 serve tank, and means independent of the valve and operable from the top of the cap for controlling said outlet.

5. The combination with a main fuel supply tank having a filling opening and cap, of a reserve fuel supply tank carried by the cap, an outlet valve in the bottom of the reserve tank having automatic closing means, a plunger carried by the cap and extending through the reserve tank for unseating said valve, a guide member supported by the cap and engaging an intermediate portion of the plunger, yielding means acting upon the plunger and normally tending to overcome the tension of the valve closing means, and means actuated by rotation of the plunger for moving the same to tension said yielding means and hold the plunger in inoperative position.

6. The combination of a main fuel supply tank, a reserve fuel supply tank associated therewith, a casing applied to the reserve tank and formed with an outlet opening, a spring seated valve mounted within the casing and normally closing the outlet opening, a spring actuated plunger extending through the casing and reserve tank and tensioned to engage the valve to open the same, and means for normally holding the plunger in an inoperative position.

A reserve fuel supply tank having a cap at the top thereof, and an opening in the bottom thereof, a perforated casing fitted within the opening and formed with a transverse partition having an outlet opening therein, a spring seated valve mounted with-l in the casing and normally closing the outlet opening, a spring acting plunger extending through and guided by the casing and cap and tensioned to unseat the valve, a lateral arm upon the plunger, and a cam arranged upon the cap for cooperation with the lateral arm to hold the plunger normally in an inoperative position In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

JOSEPH C. BARNHART. 

